Travelling anywhere from Nova Scotia in the middle of winter is a challenge, particularly when travelling so far away. Time was of the essence and in addition to our departure being delayed by a day, we had to take a day off without pay in order to attend the full conference.

The huge nose dive that the Canadian dollar took in relation to the American dollar between submitting my application and incurring costs, also wreaked havoc on my pocket book.

Although I left for the conference prepared and confident to present, I quickly realized that although my session was innovative and progressive in Nova Scotia, it was not nearly as progressive or innovative on an international scene.

The conference in San Diego allowed me the opportunity to network with other educators who are further along in their integration of technology and have already overcome obstacles and faced the challenges that impede my instruction and create roadblocks in student learning.

Having the opportunity to work along side and learn with other educators who are doing what I’m doing, allowed me to look at my own practice with a different lens.

Having the opportunity to present to my own colleagues at the HRSB Innovation in Teaching Day forced me to consolidate my learning and put it into a format that could be easily shared and used by others. I think this is so important! Without that requirement, it would have been so easy to limit the benefits to the walls of my classroom.

Having quick access to APPS that were recommended to me during sessions was really helpful — best practices on how teachers can access free or recommended apps within HRSB would be really helpful.

Today Grade 6 Bembridge will be hosting our first 2015 Hour of Code Session with Grade 4 Stairs-Freeze. Mentors, please remember to keep your hands off devices and use your words to help guide the grade four students. Many of us learn better when we can do things hands on!

I recommend you check out this tutorial and activity with your students in preparation for participation in the Hour of Code in December. This is my second year participating in the Hour of Code and I’m getting a little braver now that we have had our technology refreshed. Today I introduced the concept of computer programming with these videos:

We also had our first coding tutorial in Minecraft. My students loved this Minecraft Coding activity and were advancing quickly through the levels! I have only tried this on computers; still need to investigate the functionality of it on an iPad but I’m thinking perhaps it would work if we accessed it through Puffin…

Apply to attend the We Day Atlantic in Halifax on November 27, 2015 at the Scotia Bank Center. Applications are due no later thanThursday October 22, 2015 and must be submitted electronically in order to be considered for this exciting opportunity. Please see Ms. Bembridge if you have any difficulty submitting your application.